The MusicNerd Q&A With Megadeth

Legendary heavy-metal band Megadeth is gearing up to bring the 2013 edition of their Gigantour to Western Canada from July 22 through 29 before landing in Toronto on August 11. Here Magazine recently spoke with Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson about the latest Gigantour as well as the gratification of having their new album Super Collider debut in the Billboard Top 10.

After 30 years of making records, is it still gratifying to have had Super Collider make a Top 10 debut on Billboard?

Absolutely! There is no guarantee with any of this stuff. We wanted to stretch out a little more with this record and do a few other things. If you look at Megadeth from a historical perspective, we aren’t exactly a one-trick pony that has kept re-writing the same song for the past 30 years. I feel Super Collider is one of the more forward-thinking albums we’ve done in a number of years.

Because you’ve been at it so long, do you feel people have expectations on what new Megadeth music should sound like?

Both the group and our music are going to evolve. If you don’t evolve musically, you don’t evolve in other areas of your life. That being said, you do always run that risk of some fans crying foul and wondering why the record isn’t just 12 songs of pure thrash metal. We brace ourselves for criticism of all kinds. The fact is, these are the songs that felt right at the time. Ultimately, that is what making records is all about: capturing the band at a specific moment in time.

What does the band enjoy most about putting together Gigantour when you could just as easily tour on your own?

There is strength in numbers for sure. The tour isn’t about immediate self-gratification as it is bringing something with real value to our fans. Gigantour has never been a genre-specific tour but this year’s tour offers one of the most diverse lineups yet. One thing that has become more obvious with this year’s lineup is that a lot of us on the tour are all in the same age group and are also guys that started in the business many years ago. You’ve got guys like Zakk Wylde, Vinnie Paul (Hellyeah, ex-Pantera) and Jason Newsted out on the road with us. It is going to be a great time.